Train stuff

Lionel should have made a hot air balloon.  Far Guy made his own out of one of the Lionel Christmas ornaments.  I think it took him two days.

The Hot Air Balloon took the place of the Fighter Aircraft that was flying recon over the trains.  I think there maybe a new airstrip someplace.  I try not took look around too much.

The train layout  is in a constant state of flux.  Recently the Drive In Theater was moved to a separate table.

 

Someone will notice if you play with the cars or turn them this way or that.

This train stuff is serious business.   This is the train repair/workbench upstairs. 

I don’t dust the trains…someone is on his own with that.

I could encourage Far Guy to make a larger layout…we could get rid of some old furniture that we hardly ever use.   Most of his train friends are in basements somewhere…at least he is upstairs.

Far Guy is feeling better, he thanks you for the well wishes.  It will take a few days for him to regain his strength again.  Just today he said he was weak as a kitten.

I have fixed him chicken everything… Chicken Wraps, Chicken and Rice Soup and Chicken and Dumplings… I am getting real tired of chicken.  Chicken anyway is Far Guys favorite…not so much for me. 

Nocturnal enuresis

Wetting the bed…well that is a real treat.

I wet the bed as a child.  In fact I didn’t outgrow it until puberty at age nine.  5 % of the population of bedwetters take that long to come around.  Either their bladders become larger or a hormone kicks in that reduces the amount of urine produced at night.  I suspect that was my problem …a hormone.  Yesiree I traded in bedwetting for a bra!

Being a bedwetter meant you were thirsty after supper….and you stayed thirsty until morning and you still wet the bed.  I didn’t want to wet the bed…it eventually was cold in that bed and smelly too.  I couldn’t stay overnight for Pajama Parties like the rest of the girls.  I was different I couldn’t control my bladder at night.

I recall one night vividly.  Darlene and Diane were babysitting for me and I was to stay overnight.   WELL I probably had popcorn and Kool-Aid…and the next morning the entire bed was wet…including the curlers on Diane’s head…she had a cow.  Their Mother Hazel was kind…she said I couldn’t help it.  I didn’t stay overnight with anyone again for a really long time.

I suppose when I get to the home I will have to wear Depends.  They say you revert back to your childhood in old age.  So there I will be picking my nose and wetting the bed.

While I was on the antibiotics for my bronchitis the potty dreams returned.  Some nights I was so exhausted looking for a potty in my dreams that I never got a good nights sleep.  It was a relief to finally get out of the dream state to get up and go to the bathroom. It was most likely a miracle that I did not wet the bed. 

Those all elusive potties …doors are locked, there is a line, they are not in working order, they are too filthy to use, no one not even my children will tell me where the potty is…the night before last I showed them all… I peed in the bathtub…what a relief….I went and went and went…it seemed like at least five minutes and it felt so damn good.  I awakened.. whew…only a dream…I checked and everything was dry…thank goodness.

Neither of my children were bedwetters and Far Guy reports that he never wet the bed either.

Wistful Wednesday : Influenza

What a rotten word.

I found it in the October 1918 diaries of Far Guy’s Grandfather.

28  Monday  Hauled wood went after fanning mill to Osage  come home took the “flu”

29  Tuesday  Sick Thresa done chores

30  Wednesday  Sick Lydia came ( Grandmas sister)

31  Thursday  Got up a little  Luthe took my turn

Back then it was the young adults that died the ones with the really healthy immune systems.   Many who died were thought to have the beginnings of TB.

In the winter of 1957-1958 I had the Asian Flu.  I was six years old.  I was in the hospital in Detroit Lakes Minnesota, in a ward with other children on lumpy close to the floor beds, the single door in the room was frosted, there were windows in that corner room but I couldn’t see outside…maybe they were frosted too. The metal nightstands next to the beds would make clanging noises when the various basins were dropped there. The Sisters…  I hated the rectal thermometers that would wake you from a dead sleep. I was there maybe two or three days…I recall being warm and thirsty and sick and wanting to go home. 

During the winter of 1975-1976 many people in Minnesota had  “a flu”  Jennifer was a tiny baby and all of us were so ill with vomiting, diarrhea, chills and fever that we could not manage on our own so my Mom came and took care of us.   The aches and pains were horrible…

2015  Far Guy has Influenza and is on Tamiflu and we hope he makes a complete recovery.  The Doctor wants to see him again if his condition deteriorates.  He was on the road to recovery from his Acute Bronchitis but was taken very ill on Monday afternoon. 

We both had the Flu shot this year apparently it isn’t worth beans.

A DVR? Really?

We had a problem with our Cable TV one day last week, I waited in line and got on the repair list.  Whilst I was on the phone with the nice gentleman I asked if the repairman  could bring me a new box with a DVR…I had thought long and hard about it and decided I was worth it…$14.00 a month.  Nice gentleman says…Oh you have that equipment already and I see it is enabled.  Really when did that happen?  From day one he says…okie dokie.  Now I just have to figure out how the darn thing works.  He laughed.  A few minutes later he called me back and said turn your channel…and my problem was fixed…it was a channel problem not a system problem.  What a relief.  Television Service with our local Cable Company which includes Telephone and Internet is so much nicer/better/cheaper than one of those big  “D” companies.

I am still trying to figure the DVR out…how many programs can I record at once?  I am waiting for the grands to visit again and give Grandma a quick lesson! Newfangled stuff should come with complete instructions.

I am kinda bummed out that I have missed out on numerous programs since last May…but hey better late than never and I LOVE LOVE LOVE forwarding through the commercials when I actually sit down to watch something and don’t fall asleep!

The TV at our house rarely gets turned off.  It is great background noise.  Sometimes I think Chance watches TV too!

Minnesota winters are brutal and television is one acceptable way to escape.  It keeps us all out of the local news.

 

A Sunday Afternoon Project

I didn’t make gift tags out of Christmas Cards this year…however I checked all the addresses on the envelopes and re read the letters and notes.  I stapled all the letters together and marked them 2014. The envelopes were shredded and the cards recycled. I was covered in glitter once again…it seems every Christmas Card comes with a fair amount of sparkly glitter.

I still have a little address book.  Inside all the moves, deaths and births have been noted along with a few cell phone numbers.  Far Guy has all the addresses in his computer but I like my hands on all marked up old address book…I even have one from around 1975 that I am unwilling to part with.  Silly maybe…

All of the Christmas Card Photos were marked with the year and shoved in a photo box to be dealt with at some other time…or not.  They are a someday project.

All of those photos are a bit of history.  Kids growing up… friends and relatives growing older…the proof is in the picture.

 

The old red enamel spittoon looking popcorn bowl that I have used for cards every year since about 1996 was washed and put away.

I enjoyed my afternoon.

January Projects

I am working on a bunch of projects all at once…seems to be my modus operandi style.

We are transcribing Far Guy’s Grandfather’s 1918 diary.  Far Guy reads and I type…it is a fun part of the day to be transported back in time to those early days on the farm.  Our goal is two months a day…Grandpa wrote in pencil and his penmanship is hard to read…a magnifying glass is our best tool. 1916 and 1917 were completed last year.

I am making more photo greeting cards.  I had to order some more supplies.  I seem to send out Sympathy Cards every week.

I am back to working on my bead projects too…I had to order more supplies for that too as through trial and error I have discovered the best string (Wildline )to use. I have one inferior product that has been driving me nuts.  When the new string arrives I will rip that project apart and start over.

A bracelet I am working on.

I finally got all of Christmas put away from downstairs..upstairs is still in progress.

I am in the process of editing Far Side of Fifty 2010 into book form. It is a pain…but it will be worth it…I think.  Jen and Andy gifted me with Far Side of Fifty 2009 a few years ago.  I am using Blurb Booksmart to make the book.

I have been scanning a bunch of old photos that were gifted to me for The Forgotten Old Photo Blog.  Homes are being found for a few photos…one family only had one photo of their father as a small child now they have two.  Another couple took us to lunch just before Christmas because I had a photo of their Grandmother and a hand written note from their Great Grandmother.   I still have a glut of old photos from antique shops….if they have a name on them I have a hard time resisting them.  I keep some in a drawer in the armoire…the other day Far Guy had to repair that drawer…it seems I had filled the drawer to capacity.

I have several other projects that I haven’t found time for yet…a crochet project and a drawing class that I am taking online. The prototype of next years Christmas Ornament is ready to be painted to see if it will work or not. My helper has not carved one yet…I am certain he can do it!  We will have to spend a day in the shop cutting out the blanks if and when it is a go.

All this In between normal house cleaning, organizing and getting all better the days are full and there is no time to be bored.

I have refrained from making a list, I want to be flexible and flit around at will and nap when ever I feel like it.  Far Guy is getting better too it is a slow process one day at a time.

Snow and Sundogs

We got some snow that came in sideways.  About two inches of the beautiful “stuff” is at the snowstick.  Then it turned cold.  You know it has to warm up to snow?  It does.

Looking on the bright side it isn’t brown or grey it is white.

Did I say cold?

Here in Minnesnowfreezeyourbuttofota sundogs means it is a tad chilly… these are sundogs I captured at sunset on January 9 2015.   We went out for a very late lunch early supper because we couldn’t stand each others cooking anymore.  Our favorite place to eat in the boonies is up for sale…hope it doesn’t sell for a long time.

Just one of the sundogs showing off.  Sundogs are cause by ice crystals in the air that are refracted horizontally.  They are also known as mock or phantom suns.

Sundogs are fun to see.  I just had my little point and shoot camera. I don’t lug my big girl camera around in the winter if I have to leave it in the vehicle. (Moisture and condensation..yuk.)

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Years ago when we had the greenhouse I kept perennials outside after the main greenhouse was closed for the summer.  It extended our selling season.  That was also back when we had display gardens that were weed free. ( Now called the wild gardens) That was what we did …we weeded.  Trying to keep the woods and weeds at bay was a struggle. ( We closed the Greenhouse Business in 2008 due to the economy and Far Guys Trigeminal Neuralgia.)

Every few weeks one of us would whack off a wild rose that wanted to grow right next to one of the display racks.  It loved that spot…one day I dug down and dug the roots out.

As you can see I was a failure. Apparently it liked root pruning.

They bloomed beautifully last June and then sporadically until Fall.

We don’t do anything for them…no fertilizer…no water…no TLC… however we have stopped digging up the roots!

Rose Hips in Winter. 

So it there a lesson in all this?  Maybe…wherever you are whatever happens to you even if someone hacks off part of your roots…bloom and someday your beauty will be appreciated.

Gas, Teeth and whatnot

The price of a gallon of gas finally went under $2.00 a gallon.

We went to the Dentist, we both lost a filling just days apart from each other…talk about togetherness. We are good to go for awhile again.

Here are the orange trees (chemically damaged) they still look the same.

We still don’t have much snow.

 

What snow we have is a lovely grey/brown color from the dirt in the fields.

Those specks are Wild Turkeys, there were 29 of them coming out of our west driveway onto the field. At least it is wildlife!   I suspect some silverhair down on the lake has a feeding area for them.

At least we had some sunshine!  The temps this week have been brutal.  Lows at night about –18 F or –27 C eh!   Daytime it might get to 0 F or –17 C eh!  When the wind comes up then we have the wind chills to contend with.

We are staying close to home and busy with various winter projects.  We are still recovering/resting/recuperating from our colds and grabbing a nap whenever the mood strikes us.  I still have some Christmas Decorations up and the Shiny Brite Tree is still standing too. BUT all the beds upstairs have clean sheets and all the extra blankets have been washed…oh sometimes I miss a clothesline.

Wistful Wednesday: Second Grade 1957-1958

I am trying to organize some of my husbands class photos.   I looked at this one and took it into my scrapbook program and added some names.

There are a few unknowns…but less if it were left for me to do all by myself.

All these second graders will turn 65 this year…and get their Medicare Cards.  Far Guy is waiting for his to show up.

Three of these classmates are known to be dead.  Their names are in red.

That would be Far Guy in the back row next to the gal with the question mark.  I cannot figure out why he doesn’t remember who he was standing next to…certainly he liked her!

We see and hear for a few of these youngsters/oldsters.  We see Jackie all the time…she is our Pharmacist.  We see Connie in the grocery stores some days and had a really nice visit with Carol after a Funeral.  We haven’t seen Dave C in quite some time.   We saw Vern just the other day he is the newest Hubbard County Commissioner now that he is retired from Waste Management….or maybe it is the same thing just a different building…shame on me.. or not.

I wonder who the teacher was? 27 is a fairly large class…and this class was a handful all throughout their years in school.  I know because I was in the next years class and the teachers were always relieved to be done with them.

Chance: I got mail

Hiya it’s me Chance the blogging Border Collie.  I go to the mail everyday even on Sundays and finally there was a package for me!!   Didjaknow my sister the newly sworn (Last night) Mayor can sew?   She is amazing!  She didn’t sew her fingers or anything…she has been known to do that. She has the bloody needle in her scrapbook to prove it.

I am trying to read my mail.

Reading licking the mail.

 Chance your sister loves you so much she took out her sewing machine!  Hope you look as good as we do!  Love Miney + Little Elvis

Miney and Little Elvis!! I miss them so much!

How do you like my new duds? 

I think I look pretty snazzy! My sister can sew!

Cousins Family Cookbook

As some of you long time readers know I have been working on the family cousin’s cookbook.  I purchased some Cookbook Software. (Aunt Matildas)  Not sure I would do that again as I did have some troubles with the export.

In the beginning we asked for relatives to share recipes.  Some came in email some came in Christmas Cards, some were hand written on recipe cards, some were all typed out.  I kept sticking them in a huge yellow folder.  I began transcribing them in 2011.  It was a slow process…some were missing pan sizes or baking instructions.  I tried to proof read as I entered the recipes.

I finally called Uncle and said “Hey I need some help.”  My cousins Kathy and Geraldine offered to type for me and then email me the recipes.  After I received them it was just a matter of copying, pasting and sometimes formatting to fit on a page.

I was able to export the cookbook for proof reading to Kathy and Aunt Anna at one point with Jen’s help.  Corrections were made and more recipes were added.  I proofread it again…392 pages.  Uffda.  Then I couldn’t export my files…the software was difficult.  I sent my Laptop in for repair because it wouldn’t take just any flash drive.  PNY and HP Flash drives work just fine.  I finally exported the files and put them on a flash drive and gave Kathy the Aunt Matilda software which had two downloads left on it.   Kathy said there was nothing on the flash drive.  Uffda uffda.  I contacted the Matilda people.  Figured out the problem and did another download.  Success finally.

I nearly bawled when I found the files on my desktop and emailed them to Kathy.

Four plus years of work. Done with the a simple SEND.  What a relief.

My Mother and Dad arrived with a package for me on Christmas Eve.

Kathy redesigned the cover and that was just fine with me.  She used my front on the back.

There are recipes from Pickles to Pie

Kathy added a place for notes and a Table of Contents by page number. I just had a Table of Contents by category.

I was thrilled to finally see it in print. I was really happy that I chose the one page per recipe format.  Kathy did all the work printing and binding it together.  Together we make a pretty good team.  Thanks to all my cousins who submitted recipes, it wouldn’t be a book without you. 

I have not consulted with the rest of my cousins yet…but it will be for sale at sometime in the future to relatives.  When they are available I will give one away on the blog GWATCDR (God Willing And The Crick Don’t Rise).

I worked on this project so long I consider it a hobby.  That is a sick thought isn’t it? 

This project meets two of my Intentions from 2014  Organize and Declutter which I carried over into 2015!  I can burn that huge yellow folder filled with recipes in a ceremonial fire when it warms up outside!

New Years Vacation

Well Christmas Vacation didn’t quite do the trick.  So now we are on a New Years Vacation.

A relapse.  Relapses suck. Secondary infections suck too.  I was fine one minute and the next I was struck down by white cells working overtime.  Friday night mine began with severe chills…the teeth chattering every rice bag/corn bag in the house, two blankets with only your eyes uncovered for three hours think anytime you might die kind of chills.  Something was brewing and my fever was very high.  It was a loooong night, death would have been a relief.  I lived until morning to be seen at the Saturday Walk In Clinic.  I had the nasal all the way to your brain swab…it is not Influenza A or B.  It is Bronchitis and fluid on my ear drum. I am on a course of antibiotics and a steroid.  The Doctor says I will live to see another day if I rest and drink plenty of fluids. 

Good thing we are retired.  We can stay home and be on vacation.  

Far Guy is much better but I will share my vacation time with him too. Another week or two of quiet activity won’t hurt him either.

I might have to get out another puzzle.

Our weather sucks too…it is cold.  We got a little more snow. Wind Chills are way below zero. 

Peppermint Pop Rose at Bergeson Gardens August 2014

Chance : Treats for me

The sickies felt good enough to make me some treats….well one just took photographs.

You mix it all up and turn it on high!

Plop it on a pan. Then roll it out with the pumpkin can and then cut it into squares…someone missed a bunch of photos.  Did you see that squirrel?

Then they are baked turning once and when the oven gets shut off the door is opened and they dry out.

Then they are put in a dog proof jar.  Many more were put in the freezer.  They have no preservatives so…so you know green fuzzy stuff can grow on them if they are in the jar for too long…that is where I come in…I make sure that doesn’t happen.

Want the recipe? So you can make your best friend one of the happiest dogs on earth?

Chance’s Favorite Dog Treats

One Can of Pumpkin ( Far Side likes Libby’s Pumpkin)

4 eggs

4 Tablespoons Dry Milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

5 Cups Brown Rice Flour

Mix well!  Roll onto cookie sheet 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. (Far Guy uses the pumpkin can.)  You can use fancy cookie cutter in the shape of a dog bone but Far Side just cuts them in squares leaving a bit of a space between them, sometimes she pricks them with a fork all fancy like.   Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, turn them over and bake for 20 more minutes.  Allow to dry some with the oven door open.  Store in Freezer.

We have tried lots of recipes for pumpkin treats…this is the best one we have found…I have taste tested them all.

Snow for the New Year

We woke up to snow on New Years Day.  We got about 1 1/2 inches.

The snow stick has something to report!  I took this photo at sunset just incase we got more snow during the day…but we didn’t.

We had a quiet day.  We worked on the puzzle.

We were certain it was missing pieces…but it wasn’t.  They were all there.

We finished it just in time to use my desk for an ornament packing station.

We took the ornaments off the downstairs tree and packed them away.  The tree and the lights are still up…maybe tomorrow we will attack the rest of it.  The upstairs Shiny Brite tree will be up for a few more days.

I made a lovely meal of lobster and vegetables for supper.  Chance likes lobster.  There was a bit of moonshine out so in the evening Chance and I played ball outside.  Nothing worse than a bored Border Collie who lays his head in your lap and drools on your pant leg and looks up at you with big brown sad eyes.

We are both feeling better just a tad tired.  So we are being kind to ourselves and resting whenever we feel like it.  We don’t want any relapses!